then as soon as the bus came, they didn't even look back. bye guys, they waived and ran on to the bus. >> there were some emotional moments in the beginning of the day, but i think once everybody got there and saw the community and the way the school was all set and ready and everybody that was there for support, you couldn't walk around a corner without somebody asking did you need something? are you okay? everything was set up for us. i think that made everybody feel at ease. >> did you, by any chance, see any of the siblings of the 20? >> no, i did not see any of them. >> and so abby, do you -- when you go back to class, it's a new school, but you think the school's going to be okay? >> yes. >> are you nervous any more? >> no. >> you think you want your mom to come tomorrow? or you think you'll be okay? >> i think i'll be okay. >> and a lot of people felt that way. the people of sandy hook trying to move forward and honor the lives lost. i'm deborah feyerick, thanks for joining us.

i'm deborah feyerick. have a good night and a great have a good night and a great week. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com big new developments in the health of hillary clinton. she is back to work today. >> the case against accused a rare ra movie sheeter james holmes. we are just hours away from prosecutors unveiling their evidence in court. >> the biggest scandal to hit washington since washington. call it knee gate. >> seriously. >> what is one of the brightest stars doing in the game with a bum knee only to injure it again, maybe even worse? >> i cannot tell you how we have been discussing this this morning. it's a story. >> there is outrage. there is consternation in washington right after the fiscal cliff. can they get no reprieve after all the problems they've had? >> oh, my goodness. >> welcome to "early start." i'm john berman. >> nice to have you back. i'm zoraida sambolin.

it is 5:00 a.m. in the east. the president preparing for another bruising battle with republicans over his choice to head up the defense department. former republican senator, chuck haggle hagel of nebraska. he questioned israel and his unwillingness to back sanctions. listen to lindsey graham yesterday at the state you of the union. >> this is an in your face nomination by the president to all of us who are supportive of israel. i don't know what his management experience is regarding the pentagon, little if any. i think it's an incredibly controversial choice and it looks like the second term of barack obama is going to be an in your face term. >> foreign affairs correspondent jill dougherty is live from washington this morning. good morning to you. >> good morning. >> opposition to hagel comes

from the right and left. can you break down the issues? >> yeah. i think it has to really start with israel because the people who believe that he is not a supporter of israel, in fact, they would question his devotion to anything that would help israel. he, for instance, believes in talking to hamas. he also has come out against iran sanctions by the united states. and so that gets other people very worried about his position. he opposed the surge in afghanistan. and when you get into that issue, the gay issue, so called, about 14 years ago he made some comments about an ambassadorial nomination who as he put it was openly and aggressively gay. now that's, of course, a buzz saw of criticism. so it's not going to be an easy type of nomination certainly as you can imagine. >> so why did the president pick

hagel? >> you know, this he have some similar views. he is a maverick, that's true, but he also, i think you have to say, is a moderate realist. he also has some good credentials. he's a vietnam veteran. he heads the prestigious think tank, the atlantic council. the president would believe that they share similar views. the president, of course, is in charge on policy. >> democrats hold a majority in the senate. is it possible hagel will not get enough votes? >> i think the white house would have to believe that they will but it's not going to be an easy thing at all. >> all right. so let's switch gears here. secretary of state hillary clinton returns to work today. what's on her schedule? >> well, she has an amazingly big schedule this week, you know, away for almost a month. she wanted to come back, they said she wanted to come back and really get to work. so if you look at the schedule, today she comes back 9:15 sharp

she'll be over at the state department. she will be meeting with the assistant secretary, and then this week she has a number of meetings at the white house and then finally hamid karzai comes. they'll be talking afghanistan friday. >> her spokesperson said she was raring to go, so i suppose full speed ahead. jill dougherty, li live at the e house. all of this candidate stuff will be overshadowed today by the redskins and what happened last night. the nfl season ended badly for the washington redskins. that is the understatement of the century. their playoff loss to seattle, not even the worst of it. what happened? well, the redskins, 14 points, they scored 24 straight points to beat the redskins. 27 yard run for marchand lynch. the really bad news, i'm talking the awful, epochically tragic news. you're seeing it here, rg 3, the superstar rookie quarterback for

the redskins re-injured his knee in the game. no one even touched him. there's no word on the extent of the injury. clearly not pretty. you heard it again in the first quarter. a lot of people asking why coach mike shanahan did not pull him out in the first quarter. he was completely ineffective after he started limping. so many questions today. oh, yeah, by the way, seattle won and they will play atlanta next weekend. all right. the baltimore ravens are also moving on in the afc playoffs. they beat the indianapolis colts 24-9 on sunday. it was the last home game for the soon to be retired ray lewis. joe flacco threw down two touchdown passes including one to antwon bolden who set a franchise record. the ravens will meet peyton manning and the denver broncos next sunday. the waiting is over. tonight in south florida the top ranked fighting irish of notre dame tangle with second ranked alabama for the bcs title.

notre dame has a 5-1 all-time record against alabama. these two teams haven't faced each other on the gridiron since 1987. each has nine national titles. kickoff is 8:30 eastern. >> that's pretty late. >> are you watching the game? >> i am. >> you're wearing green today. you're clearly siding with the irish today. there is some other sports news, believe it or not. the lockout, the nhl lockout that put the hockey season on ice could soon be over. they reached a tentative agreement sunday following a marathon bargaining session. the proposed ten-year agreement must go to players and owners. if the players approve it they should be back on the ice to begin a shortened season as early as next week. you know what people always say in hockey, the only thing that matters is the playoffs. if they have the playoffs, that's all that matters.

>> people think more than the playoffs. president obama signed into law a $9.7 billion superstorm sandy aid package. most of that will be used to pay flood insurance claims. they'll vote on a $51 billion package on january 15th. house speaker john boehner received harsh criticism last week from new jersey governor chris christie and new york congressman, peter king, both of them republicans, when he refused to bring a $60 billion sandy bill up for a house vote. syrian president bashar al assad defiant and refusing to step down. he made his first public speech dismissing any chances that he would stop the forces. he called on the west to stop funding them. we're about to learn a lot more about accused aurora gunman james holmes and the evidence against him. we go live to colorado for a preview of today's hearing. that's coming up. but their shakes aren't always made for people with diabetes. that's why there's glucerna hunger smart shakes.

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welcome back to "early start," everyone. in just a few hours, james

holmes, the suspect in the aurora, colorado, shooting massacre will be in a hearing. prosecutors will be presenting evidence and for the first time the public will hear details of what went on inside that theater during the shooting rampage back in july. cnn's casey wian is live. >> reporter: good morning. it's been six months since james holmes allegedly gunned down dozens of people killing 12 in a colorado movie theater. even today, the sights and sounds of that day are both chaotic and disturbing. aurora, colorado, just after midnight july 20th, 2012. >> 315 and 314, first shooting at century theaters. >> he came down with his gun in my face. he was about three feet away from me at that point. in that instant, i didn't know

what to do. i was honestly terrified. >> right by the exit. just firing away. he's not aiming at a specific person, he's just aiming everywhere trying to hit as many people as he can. >> i've got a child victim. i need rescue at the back door of theater nine, now. >> just got to get out. just got to get out the door. just get my kids out of here. >> suspect is going to be a male, unknown race. black camo outside outfit believed to be wearing a vest, gas mask, and multiple long guns. >> reporter: that suspect, 25-year-old james holmes, is charged with killing 25 people and wounding dozens more. prosecutors are expected to call scores of witnesses before a rap pa who he county district judge william sylvester. he'll determine whether the evidence is sufficient for holmes to stand trial on more than 150 counts including

murder, attempted murder, and weapons charges. the weapons included explosives allegedly used to booby trap holmes' apartment. his attorneys are expected to present a diminished mental capacity defense. >> the government is going to say the guy wasn't crazy. he was crazy like a fox. he was conniving, premeditated. that may be true. you can have a mental disease. >> reporter: he had been seeing a psychiatrist and he was a doctoral candidate in neural science. his attorneys say he was hospitalized in november after repeatedly banging his head into a jail wall. now up until now the judge has had a sweeping gag order in place so as you mentioned earlier, john, this is going to be the first time the public is going to be able to hear a lot of evidence the prosecution has

against james holmes, john. >> casey, i have to say it was chilling to hear all that sound from that morning that night especially in light of what the country just went through in newtown. it's amazing to hear that. this hearing will not be quick, am i right? there's a mountain of evidence. we're expecting to hear from a lot of people. >> yeah, there could be as many as 70 witnesses. we're expecting this could last as long as a week. we don't know how much the defense is going to put on, but it's expected they'll begin to lay the groundwork for what's expected to be a diminished mental capacity defense. we know that because of some of the court filings that happened. >> what about a plea from holmes, did we hear anything about that yet? >> nothing yet. that would come at his arraignment assuming that the judge finds that there's enough evidence for him to stand trial. no one expects the prosecution to have any difficulty showing that. >> there is a great deal of interest in this trial around the country but i'm also sure in aurora, colorado.

will some of the family members of the victims be there. >> some will be there. some of them apparently do not want to be in the same room as james who willments so there will be some who will be in sort of an overflow room that will include members of the media because they just don't want to be in the same room as this guy, john. >> casey wian, live for us. thanks a lot. at 6:00 we're going to talk to a lawyer about the nuances and the laws there declaring somebody insane. 15 minutes past the hour. here's christine romans with our top stories. good morning day morning. chuck hagel is president obama's likely choice to be the next secretary of defense. even knthough hagel is a republican, republicans are challenging the pick, questioning his unwillingness to back sanctions against iran. hillary clinton heads back to work this morning. the secretary of state was discharged from a new york hospital on wednesday.

this will be her first day back on the job since being side lined by an illness, a concussion, and a blood clot. she has meetings first thing this morning with her assistant secretary of state and after a full day of meetings tomorrow, she'll be greeting afghan president hamid karzai when he visits washington friday. shell oil says that drilling rig that ran aground across the coast of southern alaska is ready to be towed away today. recovery could begin today. there's no signs of any oil league. the rig was being towed back home when it ran aground about a week ago. it was horror over "hobbit" this weekend. "texas chain saw 3-did," that w number one. jango second and the hobbit fell to third making 17.5 million. >> no respect for bill though?

show bill some love. >> two violent ones, number one and number two. >> it is 16 minutes past the hour. we're getting an early look on your local news that is making national headlines. from the wall street journal, a revealing interview with house speaker john boehner about the recent fiscal cliff debacle. the ohio republican saying one thing stunned him, it's when the president told him we don't have a spending problem, we have a health care problem. boehner said he was astonished by that. at one point the speaker told the journal reporter, i need this job like i need a hole in the head. >> a lot of people trying to write their own history of these debates and discussions. i think that's what's going on with that. in the san francisco tribune, a man who was shot during a hate crime. he had a gun and he decided not to use it in his own defense. surveillance video from a walmart parking lot shows this guy getting shot at from point blank range.

the alleged shooter, 25-year-old daniel quesnel, asked muhammad if they were muslim or from the middle east. he said no. he fired 20 shots and then walked off. quesnel's mother turned him in to police and helped police find him. >> that's incredible. >> the victim had a handgun but decided not to use it in his own defense because the guy who was shooting at him was using a pellet gun and he thought it would be unfair. >> terrible. 18 minutes past the hour. for an extended look at all our stories, go to our blog. you can follow us on twitter and facebook. just search for "early start" cnn. >> it is a big bright spot in our economy right now. coming up, what auto sales say about the state of this economy heading into the new year.

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this is new york city you're looking at here. >> top of the morning to you, new york city. come hang out with us. grab your cup of coffee. we're going to be minding your business this morning. u.s. stock futures are trading flat ahead of the opening bell. >> some of the attention is off washington because earning season kicks off this week. we have some pretty good news for the banking sector. >> overnight there was a big story, i guess if you will, out of new york. i won't get too wonky for you. international banking regulations pushed off. bank stocks around the world are rallying. we have futures slack. we'll watch to see if the banking sector is the driver. there's a saying, the stock trader almanac has a saying about the first five days of the year. it's really an automatic warning system for the rest of the year. the first five days if they do well you usually get a very good year for stocks. 38 times january the first five days have done well, 33 years the s&p has done better. let me show you what we've done the first five days of the year.

s&p, the dow, all of them higher. nasdaq up 4.58%. as john said, earnings will be the driver. the historical precedent is that can be good for the overall year. let me tell you where we are in the economy. we had great news late last week about car sales. if you're going to shell out $38,000 for a car or you're going to be able to borrow money for a car, that shows you have a little bit of economic confidence. housing, this year we're expecting housing to go higher. that's the balance in the economy overall as i see it right now. that's what investors are grappling with. >> a lot of people still paying for 2012. >> oh, yeah. >> dealing with their credit cards right now. heading into 2013, what does it look like we'll be paying more for. >> this is the time we're taking stock. what kind of prices will be going up. corn overnight rallying again. we've seen a huge rise in corn

prices. that goes into cereal and snack foods and meet. you can expect to pay 3 to 4% more. rent prices up 5% more. we're expecting rent prices to decline. mail at the end of this month it will be another penny to cost you to get a stamp. grab forever stamps, everyone. public transit in some big cities like new york considering it, also in chicago where some of the monthly taxes are going up. you can expect fares to go up. your commute probably going to get a little bit more expensive. that's a little bit of a rundown to cost you more this year in 2013. >> eat burgers while you ride the subway. >> everyone is getting a 5 or 6% raise this year. oh, wait, they're not. >> plan accordingly. >> thank you. >> you're welcome. really the only thing that any of us want to talk about this morning is football. by any of us i mean me. a star player suffers a nasty injury in a big game. there is so much second guess. >> question.

>> monday morning quarterbacking. a lot of people playing the coach. we'll have more on the rg3 or rg knee controversy. you can watch us on your desk top or mobile phone go to cnn.com/tv. everyone tells a little white lie now and then. but now she wants my recipe [ clears his throat ] [ softly ] she's right behind me isn't she? [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup.

agony of defeat. one of the nfl's brightest young stars suffers a frightening injury when many say he should never have been on that field. >> absolutely not. all right. not a proud moment for ran paul. a senator's son arrested after an alleged incident at an airport. >> corporations are people.

a traffic court will have to decide thanks to a single man driving in the carpool lane. welcome back. i'm zoraida sambolin. >> i'm john berman. it is january 7th. a lot of news out of washington and it's not just football. almost not just football. president obama prepared to nominate chuck hagel to be the secretary of defense. he's already being blasted by republican leaders even though hagel is a republican. questions are being raised about his support for israel, his unwillingness to back sanctions against iran and for remarks he made about an openly gay nominee for ambassador. plenty of democrats are raising questions. the state department, secretary of state hillary clinton back on the job. she'll be in meetings first thing and will play a big role when afghan president hamid karzai comes to washington on friday. today will be clinton's first day at work since being sidelined for an illness and a concussion and a blood clot.

29 minutes past the hour. berman and the nation's capitol still mourning the nation's crushed dreams. robert grin fin iii taking a bad fall. they lost against the seahawks 24-14. tonight we'll find out who's the bcs champs. number one, notre dame, the team with a lot of heart, or number two, alabama. cory wire has played football with the buffalo bills and the atlanta falcons. he's joining us. it's nice to have you back here. this has been all the talk. rg3 left after a nasty fall. he was limping before that because of a sprained knee. so with that knee, should he have been in the game to begin with in your expert opinion? >> well, you know, in the game of football, playing through pain and adversity and being mentally tough is like a badge of honor so that he went out

there and played for his team and for his city didn't surprise me and probably didn't surprise many. he wanted to give it a shot. wanted to give his team the best chance to win. you have to honor and admire him for that. >> some people are wondering if that was against a doctor's advice. sports doctor dr. james andrews, very well respected, i understand, was treating rg3 said he didn't clear griffin to play immediately after his injury. also said that he had been holding his breath yesterday because griffin is still recovering. making the argument that rg3 had been benched to recover. should he have been forced to sit out? >> ult ultimately, zoraida, it comes out to the player. he's the ceo of his own individual enterprise, his own body. again, that he chose -- >> it's his decision? he can make that decision that he's the one who wants to play despite the doctor saying you have a good injury, i'm concerned about this, not a good idea, don't play. >> ultimately it's up to the player. if he had gone against team

rules and regulations and did something that wasn't good with the coach or the gm, you know, i think that's a different story. then they could possibly talk about was it conduct detrimental to the team but, you know, i think the doctor in this case probably said he shouldn't but didn't demand or command him not to go out there and play. >> it was really tough to watch that injury. all right. so we don't want to forget about the ravens. they beat the colts yesterday 24-9. surprising game between seattle and washington yesterday until the seahawks took over, ended washington's star season. were you surprised? >> about the washington game? you know, i was until i realized it was because rg3 was hurt, right? when it came down to it, washington just wasn't able to match points. they came out with a bang, 14-0, and be then seattle scored 24 unanswered points but it was because rg3 was hurt. they just were not the same team. when it comes down to it,

seattle has a dynamic quarterback, dominant defense and a diesel running back. they'll be facing the falcons in the next round of playoffs. >> big bcs championship game, al la became be ma, team of might, versus notre dame, team of heart. last week you said you see notre dame having a great chance because of their heart. talk to us about what you expect tonight. i expect them to win. >> i like that you're using that word, heart. i see this match-up as the team with heart power in notre dame versus the team with horsepower in alabama, zoraida. i'm with you. i'm rooting for the underdog. >> yeah. >> i'm rooting for the underdog even though they're the -- even though they're undefeated, i ould say. alabama plays in the high powered s.e.c. conference. they've won six straight national titles, but what a better team to try to unseat the super power from the s.e.c. in notre dame. an iconic, not a bigger school in all of college football.

more iconic school. it's going to be an exciting game tonight. i'm cheering for you cheering for them, okay? >> well, let's talk about man tai tayo so we can stay with all the love. >> manti tayo, he's electric. he jumps off the screen at you. he's the epicenter of that defense. he's the heartbeat. he's the mind, the soul, the spirit. he's the all everything of that notre dame team. as he goes, the team goes. what a great story. we know about the adversity he's been through. he lost his grandmother, then his girlfriend passed away and he just continued to be someone to -- praise worthy. praise worthy with his play, his leadership. it will be fun watching him succeed tonight and in many years in the nfl. >> absolutely. you want to see him win. all right. so the odds are not in our favor. the vegas odds favor alabama by about 9.5 points. how about a prediction? >> well, it's good that you and

i probably aren't betting people, right? >> i don't know. we may be. off the air i may send you an e-mail. what's your prediction? do you have a score for me? you did last week. >> this is going to be a team of defenses. i'm thinking low-scoring game. not too high scoring. i'll go with 21-20 the irish of notre dame. >> all right. loving that. i'm going to join you on that. former player with the atlantic falcons and buffalo bills, we're going to talk to you at 6:00. berman is going to have a hand. he does not like notre dame. prepare yourself. >> arm wrestle. >> that's a great idea with a former nfl player. let's around wrestle. thank you. turning to some new developments this hour in the explosive rape case that's consuming the countries town of steubenville. lawyers want their client's trial postponed and moved out of the area. so much emotion. defense attorney adam nemann

sees no other choice. >> given the publicity and what we perceive as threats to individuals, witnesses and also defendants, and defense counseling, we're concerned about safety issues at this point. and definitely i'm concerned about whether or not the case should be tried in this area. >> 16-year-old defend dantsds are charged with raping a girl in august during a long night of partying. rescuers continue to search the cascade mountains for a missing sky diver who disappeared after jumping out of a helicopter. this was last thursday. a team of 130 trained mountain rescuers have been searching for curt rupert. they believe he jumped from 6500 feet while wearing a special winged suit which allows a sky diver to soar and glide before

deploying a parachute. the son of ran paul was arrested at a north carolina airport. 19-year-old william hilton paul was arrested saturday morning at douglas airport after flying in from lexington, kentucky. senator paul's office has issued a statement asking that the family's privacy be respected. 37 minutes past the hour. if you're traveling today, a lot of the storms that plagued us over the weekend are clearing up just in the nick of time. meteorologist karen mcginnis joins us. >> good morning to you. zoraida, john, it looks like a january thaw. the temperatures are above normal. that includes chicago who have seen very little in the way of snowfall. for texas, it means welcoming rainfall in areas that are seeing extreme drought. you may remember last year's fire season. right around houston and galveston, the rainfall could be heavy coming up to the next 24 to 36 hours.

you could see about four inches of rainfall. even though it is still officially winter, thunderstorms will be rumbling around, maybe an isolated tornado. welcome rainfall expected along the gulf coast. this is what we can expect going into tuesday. the possibility of some heavy rain and the potential for some flash flooding. going into wednesday, that shifts a little bit further towards the north and the east. for houston all the way to new orleans look for a chance of showers and thunderstorms. this is what i'm talking about. chicago, not so much snowfall all winter long. temperatures expected in the 40s. the average high can be around 31 degrees. look at washington, d.c., temperatures in the 50s going into the upper 50s by wednesday. enjoy it while it lasts. john, zoraida, it looks like it will change quite a bit going in the next 10 to 12 days or so. >> all right. do you like that? >> yeah, a little bit. >> makes him giddy. thank you very much. >> thanks so much. the u.s. supreme court back in

session hearing its first oral argument of 2013. tackling two cases. one involving felons illegally carrying firearms. the other involves the right of a company to sue in a state court class action to transfer the case so that a federal court decides it. a california man will go before a traffic commissioner after getting caught driving solo in the carpool lane. he argues that he wasn't alone. he had a pile of corporation paperwork next to him. 59-year-old jonathan freeman says the california vehicle imposed definition of a person includes a corporation. he says he actually wanted to get caught. he says he wants people to think about the role and responsibilities that corporations have. >> somewhere mitt romney is smiling. it was more than a year ago he famously said in iowa, corporations are people. can they ride shotgun is the question? >> that's an odd one. we'll see how the judge rules.

>> i'm not sure it's going to go so well. coming up, development in a case that has stirred worldwide outrage. we're going to go live in india where five men stand accused in the rape and murder of a young woman. >> also ahead, the future now for two auto companies making big strides in developing cars that drive themselves.

overseas now to that barbaric gang rape. it's inspiring calls for change and inspiring indian women to fight back against sexual attacks. five men accused of robbing and assaulting an unidentified 29-year-old woman and her male companion on a bus appearing in court. a juvenile court will narrow down the age of the six suspects. the details of this crime just horrifying. the companion telling a french news agency telling them the woman was raped and beaten with a metal bar.

he survived with a broken leg. we're getting a report from new delhi. what's the latest? >> reporter: it began and now it's an encamera proceeding. it's off limits to the media and the public. the media cannot report on that. there is a bit of a ruckus right before the suspects were brought in. some of the lawyers there were yelling at their colleagues, defense lawyers saying you cannot defend those barbarians. the magistrate said everybody not related to the case, from there on it's an encamera proceeding off limits to the media and the public. >> there are conflicting reports right now about whether the woman's father wants the vict s

victim's name to be released. >> reporter: that's right. it's actually illegal, according to indian law, to release the name of the rape victim, but a british newspaper did that anyway. we actually spoke to the brother of the victim yesterday, and he was saying that that's not actually what they intended. they just want a hospital to be built in their village in her name, but they do not want the victim's name to be released at all at this point. >> there is so much outrage worldwide over this incident, but how is it being handled by the government in india? >> reporter: well, the government's taken a few steps so far. they're saying that they will be recruiting more female police officers. they will also try to organize sense tieization and training programs for the police. one state is even planning on putting up a website naming and shaming all these convicted

rapists. meanwhile, the suspects of the high court here in dehli actually sent out a letter to all the state courts saying that a court be set up in all those states for cases of rape and sexual assault. those are just some of the steps being taken at the moment. >> all right. thank you so much. live for us this morning in new delhi in india. thanks. it is 46 minutes past the hour. coming up, a billion bullets? questions about the department of homeland security's eye popping ammo order. plus, cars that dry themselves. two major automakers a step closer to making this an abts reality for all of us. if you are leaving the house right now you can watch us on cnn.com/tv. [ male announcer ] how do you make america's favorite recipes?

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49 minutes past the hour. let's get you up to date. here's christine romans. i can't speak. christine romans with our top story. >> you can call me anything. happy monday morning. president obama's topic for the department of defense is chuck hagel. the question for his support for israel and backing sanctions.

hillary clinton is returning to work today she'll meet with her assistant secretary of state this morning and plans to play a key role in welcoming afghan president hamid karzai to washington on friday. convicted serial killer rodney alcala will be sentenced today in new york today. alcala appeared on the dating game back in 1978 already on death row in california. in 2010 he was convicted in california for the murders of four women and a 12-year-old girl, murders that took place between 1977 and 1979. 1 billion rounds of ammunition, that's a staggering amount of ammo, department of homeland security has reportedly ordered. business insider uncovered the orders. a retired military official said that's way more than 10 times what the u.s. troops use in iraq. firearms training only requires 15 to 20 million rounds a year.

paramedics in colorado got more than a flood. their ambulance was stolen. longmont police said robert elmarch cable was drunk when he got behind the wheel and went for a joyride. taylor was pulled over by officers a short time later charged with dwi and then of course charged with stealing an ambulance. a spokesman says 94-year-old nelson mandela starting to get back to normal, normal routine as he recovers from a recent lung infection and gallstone injury. he was diagnosed with a lung infection in early december. he continues to receive treatment at home in suburban johannesburg. i love this. car makers moving closer to driverless cars. we expect some of the technology to be highlighted this week in las vegas. toyota put up a preview video.

five second clip showing a lexus car. there are already five states that allow driverless cars. audi will show a driverless car. including a self-parking feature. volvo is working on its road train concept. the chain of self-driving cars controlled by a lead vehicle. some experts predict by 2040 70% of cars on the road will be driving themselves. >> you're an expert clearly. >> my dad has been in a ton of vehicles. really interesting stuff. makes a lot of sense, where as, repetitive group where it's something like parallel parking, but in farming, for example, imagine a tractor that could go around and do the same kind of spraying and same kind of pattern. the car talks to the gps. it's really fascinating stuff. >> ford magazine was saying by

2040 this will take over. it was explaining the technology. it will no longer need lights. there are sensors. all the cars will have sensors and they'll talk to each other. they'll talk to each other. if you get in an accident who do you sue, the software manufacturer, the owner. >> all of the above. >> answers to everyone. thanks very much. >> you'rewell come. coming up in the next hour of "early start," the public gets to hear for the first time today the evidence against james holmes, the accused shooter in the aurora movie shotter. plus, the strange case of the sperm donor getting sued for child support. for the first time we are hearing from one of the moms. >> two of the biggest teams in football go head to head tonight. will it be notre dame or alabama? we're going to talk to the

former nfl linebacker coy wire and we'll be talking about rg3. >> joe biden, tv star? the vice president going to unusual lengths to try to make that happen. nnouncer ] with 40 delicious progresso soups at 100 calories or less, there are plenty of reasons people are saying "progress-oh!" share your progress-oh! story on facebook.

welcome back. it is 57 minutes past the hour. i'm zoraida sambolin along with mr. john berman. we're looking at the top cnn trends. quite a buzz in the bayou this morning. >> that's because there's a new quarterback in town. his name is montana.

his name is nick montana. he's the son of joe montana. montana is a junior. he has two years of eligibility left. after spending some time at the university of washington and mount san antonio community college. coach curtis johnson says bringing the son of joe to tulane was among his top goals this season. joe biden's fiscal cliff connector and now reality tv star, seriously? a biden fan created a petition for them to create a show that follows the second in command around. he said it would show the light-hearted side of politics even in the midst of contentious and divisive debate. he has some kmod did i shots. he made his acting debut on "parks and recreation." >> he's made for tv. that is a reality tv goal. >> keep on giving. >> "jersey shore" following joe biden. checking out other cnn

trends. go to cnn.com/tv. early start continues now. hillary clinton returning to congress after her blood clot health scare. battle lines drawn. chuck hagel, president obama's nominee for defense secretary, could have a rough time getting confirmed. guessing game. plenty of people questioning the coach after robert griffin iii's injury. good morning. welcome back to "early start." i'm zoraida sambolin. >> i'm john berman. >> it is great to have a washington controversy that's not fiscal cliff oriented. it is monday, january 7th, 6:00 a.m. in the east. up first, not football but other news in washington. republicans vowing to fight the president's

president's next pick for the secretary of defense, even though it's a fellow republican. the choice is chuck hagel of nebraska. the announcement is coming today and the nomination process could get ugly. because republican leaders are questioning haggle's support of israel and unwillingness to get behind sanctions of iran. lindsay graham sounding the battle cry on cnn "state of the union." >> this is an in your face nomination by the president to all of us supportive of israel. i don't know what his management experience is regarding the pentagon. little, if any, so i think it's an incredibly controversial choice, and looks like the second term of barack obama is going to be an in-your-face term. >> jill dougherty live from washington. opposition from the right and left on a number of different issues. what's the top problems that people have with chuck hagel?

>> you take the republicans who don't consider him a republican anymore, they would point to israel. say he's not a friend of israel. one of the reasons they say that, they point to iran, and haggle has questioned the efficacy of unilateral, u.s. sanctions against iran. he also opposed the surge in afghanistan. and when you look at the democratic side, some people have problems with comments he made over a dozen years ago about a nominee for an ambassadorship who was as he put it, openly and aggressively gay. so have you got it from both sides. let's listen to both sides right now. >> he delayed emergency funding for the troops in 2007. even after the surge succeeded. in 2008, he said it wasn't because of the troops' position. you add that to his strange hostility toward israel, the

senate should oppose mr. hagel. >> he is a tremendous statesman. served in vietnam and as a u.s. senator. he hasn't had a chance to speak for himself. why all the prejudging? >> yeah, prejudging it will be hot in the senate when this comes up for hearings. john. >> hagel is a republican, but it doesn't seem obama will get credit for reaching across the aisle what then are the pluses to his nomination? >> i think you would have to say that generally they are on the same page on a lot of foreign policy issues. he is a vietnam veteran, that's the first for the d.o.d.. he teaches at georgetown, he chairs an influential thinktank and co-chairs obama's intelligence advisory board and that's important too. so there are a lot of things

that people support. and there is a letter. i can read a bit from it. former ambassadors who endorse him. say he has already supported the pillars of american foreign policy, such as a strong nato and atlantic partnership, a commitment to the security of israel as a friend and ally. a determination to stop the proliferation of nuclear weapons, and the defense of human rights as a core principle of america's role in the world. john, i think you have to say, chuck hagel is a maverick, so it won't be easy up on capitol hill when this nomination goes up there. >> despite the problems, any serious jeopardy that the nomination doesn't go through, jill? >> that is a little hard to say, but the white house obviously believes they are willing to risk that storm, thinking they can pull enough spots. >> before we come in with the new cabinet, let's talk about the old. hillary clinton returns to work after the health care.

what's on her schedule? >> a pretty big schedule. she said she wanted to get back to work, get cracking and she's going to be there according to the schedule. 9:15, bright and early for meetings and this week, she has a number of meetings at the white house. and then friday, she'll be one of the key people dealing with hamid karzai on that important issue. >> thank you, jill. four minutes past the hour. president obama signed into law the first bill signed into law by the 113th congress. a 9$9.7 billion superstorm sand aid package. most used to pay flood insurance claims. the house and senate will vote on a second package later this month. president obama received harsh criticism when he refused to bring a $60 billion sandy bill up for a houvote.

and bashar al-assad dismissing any chance of peace talks with rebel forces, referring to them as murderous criminals and demanding the west stop funding them. lawyers for a case in steubenville, ohio, defense attorney adam neman sees no way to move forward in steubenville. >> we perceive threats to individuals, witnesses defendants and defense counsel, we're concerned about safety issues at this point. secondly, i'm concerned about whether or not the case should be tried in this area. >> 16-year-old s are charged wih raping a girl in august during a

night of partying. shell oil says recovery operation on the oil rig that ran aground off the coast of alaska could begin today. the fuel tank does appear to be intact. it was being towed to its home in seattle when it ran aground. baltimore ravens moving on in the playoffs. beat the colts 24-9 on sunday. last home game for ray lewis who is retiring. joe flacco threw two touchdown passes, including one to anquan boldin, who set a franchise record for receiving yards. and necessity now meet peyton manning and denver broncos next saturday. a collective oy vey from washington redskins fans. not because they blew the game, it is because of the this. quarterback robert griffith iii,

rg3, injuring his knee. looks just awful. rg3 scheduled to have an mri today. and the redskins faithful holding it's breath hoping it doesn't delay his season next year. seahawks fans, congratulations to all of you. >> lots of love to you. caught playing favorite. why senate majority leader harry reid might have explaining to do to the people of the gulf coast. and about to learn a lot more about james holmes and the evidence against him. we'll go live to colorado for a preview of today's hearings, coming up. ♪

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welcome back to "early start," everyone. james holmes, accused of killing 12 people in an aurora, colorado, movie theater. we're expecting to hear graphic testimony about holmes' alleged rampage. we're live in centennial, colorado. good morning, casey. >> reporter: good morning, john. it's been nearly six months

since james holmes allegedly gunned down dozens of people, killing 12 in a colorado movie theater. even today, the sound and sights of that day are both chaotic and disturbing. aurora, colorado, just after midnight, july 20, 2012. >> 315 and 314, first shooting at century theaters, 14 300 east alameda avenue. they are saying somebody's shooting in the auditorium. >> came down with the gun in my face. it was three feet away from my house. >> we have multiple victims. >> the guy standing by the victim, just firing away aiming everywhere, trying to hit as many people as he can. >> i have a child victim. i need rescue at the back door, theater nine, now. >> i was thinking we just got to get out. i just got to get out the doors. even if i just fall dead, just get out of here. it was so horrible.

>> suspect is going to be a male, unknown race, black coamo outfit believed to be wearing a vest, gas mask and multiple long guns. >> james holmes is charged with killing 12 people and wounding dozens more. prosecutors are expected to call scores of witnesses before arapahoe district judge william silver. he will determine if the evidence is sufficient for holmes to stand trial on more than 15 0 counts, including murder, attempted murder weapons charges. the weapons include explosives, allegedly used to booby trap holmes' apartment. defense attorneys are expected to use a diminished responsibility defense. >> the government will say he's conniving, meditated,

methodical. and that may be true much you can be all of those things, but you could also have a mental disease or defect. >> he been seeing a psychiatrist at university of colorado, where he was a neuroscience doctoral candidate. he was hospitalized in november after repeatedly banging his head against a jail wall. holmes has not yet entered a plea that will come at an arraignment if the judge decide there is enough evidence to hold him over for trial. no one expects the prosecution will have a difficult time in demonstrating that. >> about what family members of those killed? will they about in court this morning? >> some have been in court. and they have been warned to expect graphic testimony, including video from the crime scene, autopsy photos. some of the family members don't want to be in the same room as james holmes. some are expected to watch from

an overflow room in the courthouse behind me, john. >> casey wian, centennial, colorado. thank you very much. at 6:30, we'll talk with anne bremner. the education of john boehner, a revealing interview in "the wall street journal." he says one thing stunned him more than anything else in the fight over the fiscal cliff. when the president told him behind closed door, we don't have a spending problem, we have a health care problem. boehner was astonished by the comment. he said "i need this job like a need a hole in the head." senate majority leader harry reid is taking heat in louisiana after saying the devastation caused by hurricane katrina was nothing in comparison to

superstorm sandy. the nevada democrat made the controversial comments on the senate floor while complaining that congress is has taken too long to address the sandy aid. >> we are now past two months with the people of new york, and the people of new orleans and that area, they were hurt, but nothing in comparison to the people in new england. >> i can see why that raised some eyebrows. head to cnn.com/earlystart for our blog. follow us on twitter and facebook. 15 minutes past the hour. two of the most storied football teams coll lied tonight . not er dame and crime s crimson tide. both have captured nine national championships. and alabama is a ten-point favorite. only two times these teams have

met in bowl games, the irish have come out on top. wearing green today for them. carlos diaz live from miami. >> i am. wearing green for them. 78>> if you didn't know, zoraida has ties to chicago. >> this is being built as might vs. heart. and notre dame is looking for its first national championship in 24 years. what is the atmosphere like in miami? >> it is electric down here. this could be the biggest national championship game we've seen in decades, zoraida. have you two storied programs. notre dame from the ashes, not been here in 24 years. alabama trying to win their third national championship in four years, and are you here in miami, basically where the best bowl games come to play. tonight, the bcs championship

game. one family in particular will be looking at this game on pins and needles, mike goleck and his wife christine have two sons. mike jr. and jake on notre dame's football team. have you hundreds of family who are the mom and pop. but only one family can say we've got two kids on the team. mike told us that he is not making any mistakes about who he's rooting for tonight. the irish. >> these two have been teammates forever and they have the nice moment against wake forest on senior day, when they knew it would he about the last time they would be on the notre dame field together. and i'm sure they will have a nice moment in miami, hopefully winning a championship. that will be the last time they are on the field together as teammates. they have done it a long, long time that will be a wild thing,

but we'll stoppaging as quickly. >> we will. >> there is part of that. aging three years for every year i think. >> yes. >> and mike and christine went to every notre dame game they could this year, every one of them, home and away. that's where the aging process is happening with those guys. have you a long list of golics who have gone to notre dame. mike and his brothers, mike and his sons go to notre dame and they have a daughter, sydney and she's a freshman on the notre dame swim team. a rich tradition with the golic family. much more with alabama and notre dame right here from miami. >> that has to be nerve-wracking for the parents watching. just in case something happens. so, listen, trying to get on a plane to go watch this game. traffic on rise, tickets for bcs

game decline. when you read carefully the fine print, they are still really expensive, aren't they? >> let me tell you from somebody who is down here. i would love you to come down, zoraida, i'll buy you a beverage. if you think are you getting into the game, you're wrong. everybody is like i'll get a ticket the day of the game no, problem. no way. >> really? >> the cheap seats, nose bleed seats at the top of the stadium, going for $845 on stub hub. getting a plane at the last second, do not. everyone is counting on making the last-behind nit rush. a mad rush for tickets at the last minute. >> you can go. just have to pay a lot of money for nose bleed tickets. carlos diaz, i'll take the play-by-play from you. thank you. >> no problem. >> help the economy down there.

>> almost $900 all the way up there. coming up, what auto sales say about the state of the nation in the new year. stay with us. [ female announcer ] going to sleep may be easy, but when you wake up

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minding your business this morning. u.s. stock futures down slightly ahead of the opening bell. >> attention on washington, with earnings season kicking off. christine romans has more. >> for earnings, we'll hear about how companies are doing. how much money they have sitting in the bank and what kind of money they are making what they are saying about the economy overall. the big story for banks and the banking industry is some international reserve standards have been weakened, some of the observers are saying they have been pushed off the deadline about four years ago. international banks, banking stocks moving higher. stocks in the u.s. closed at a five-year on friday. a very good week for stocks,

first five days of the year. really good for u.s. stocks. according to strong traders al almanac. when stocks are up the first five days of the year it almost always portends an increase for the year, except in some off, odd years. it's a historical pattern people follow. late in the week, we heard car sales best since 2007. when someone is voting on the economy with the confidence of buying a car, it is a personal vote about the job, the direction of the economy. some people are buying cars because they have to, because they have been really on the sidelines for a couple of years, but that shows some economic recovery. housing, home prices are rising. activity in the housing market. construction jobs, and likely because of the housing market as well. political uncertainty we've been telling you, you have budget

wars that are a problem for consumers and companies' psyches, and mediocre jobs growth. can't wait until we get to the 250 level. then we really would be lowering the unemployment rate. >> name just one thing we need to know about your money. what would it be? >> you are going to see social security check go 1.7% this year. wages up 3% if you are lucky. a number of things will cost more. corn, meat, rents are rising, mail costs will rise. public transit in a lot of big cities. public transit costs, maybe in new york, another 50 cents in new york. a lot of things more expensive in 2013. not necessarily commensurate with how much more money we will make. so, you know, plan accordingly. meat. really watching the food costs because of the drought last fall. rising global demand for grain and meat. so grocery bill could be something that rises this year. >> too bad for the pork lovers

in the morning, right? ms. christine romans. >> that's me. >> looking out for the pork lovers out there 25 minutes after the hour. scandal at youchlt of texas this morning. coming up, the affair that forced a legendary coach to quit. [ woman ] uh-oh.

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the case against james holmes. we're hours away now from prosecutors unveiling their evidence against the accused aurora theater gunman. the sbos baboss is back. hillary clinton meets with staffers for the first time since her blood clot hospital scare. no sign italian fashion

mogul or his plane off the coast of venezuela. >> i'm john berman. >> i'm zoraida sambolin. january 7th. 30 minutes past the hour. a big day today in the trial of james holmes. the accused shooter in the aurora murder massacre. a pretrial gets under way. the first time the public hears evidence against holmes. is he charged with killing 12 and wounding several more at the midnight showing of "the dark knight rises." anne bremner joins us from seattle this morning. >> thank you for having me, good morning. >> we're delighted to have you. you prosecuted a number of cases. what can you expect today? what will the preliminary hearing actually determine? >> it's basically like a mini trial or coming attractions so to speak of what the trial will entail. the prosecution has many witnesses, hundreds of exhibits or at least 100 exhibits and they have to show a judge there

is enough to bind the case over for trial. probable cause to believe that james holmes committed these 166 various felonies. so it will take about a week and rules of evidence don't amy, although there are some objections lodged to hearsay. and everyone is predicting the case will be bound over. >> there are reports that the prosecution plans to call a lot of witnesses. is that unusual for preliminary hearing? >> it is. because it's usually such a bare bones presentation, just enough to show the judge you have probable cause. you don't want to showcase, give away your cards so to speak, everything to the defense in this kay like this, something different going on. and it's this. they want to show the defense they have a strong case, but they want the public to know what happened in this case, because there has been a gag order, and it's important for the public to know and have a public airing of the facts. there could be a plea bargain here it will only happen if

james holmes thinks he's in serious trouble. >> you mentioned this will go on for a week. a lot of details. specifically what? i talked to the cousin of one of the victims last week, and she's actually going to be present in court. there will be a lot of graphic information they will share today, right? >> yeah, it is going to be horrible for the victim and some have said, of course, it's too painful for them to go through it. it may be the only hearing are the facts are vetted. there may not be a trial if a deal is worked out. autopsy reports, video from the theater, first-hand accounts of how he was shooting again and again and again at people. very tough for victims. in my experience, victims, especially when i was a prosecutor, they want to be there. they want to know what happened. they want to hear the evidence. it's not cathartic and not closure, but they want to be there. >> it's really difficult. not just hearing it, but seeing. >> seeing it. >> the defense team said holmes

is mentally ill. have not made a plea deal. the insanity defense is handed differently there in colorado in the courts. >> it is. >> could you walk us through that? >> there are only a few states like colorado. just like the federal law was before with john hinckley. the law is this. the state has a burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that james holmes is state. my state, it's the opposite. the defense has to show it. in colorado, they have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt he's sane. that's tough when he thinks he's batman or the joker and shooting randomly and had the house and this notebook and behaviors, how do they prove that? the defense will put on mental health witnesses in this case, and finally, in the death penalty case, we don't put to death the mentally ill. even if he's not found to be insane, he may not have the death penalty imposed because he

may be found mentally incapable at that phase. >> a lot of people will be watching this. we appreciate your time today, anne bremner. appreciate you. former senator chuck hagel of nebraska is expected to be nominated for defense secretary today. he is already being blasted by republican leaders. and for israel, his unwillingness aquestionable remarks he made in 199 8. the white house will make their pick for the head of the cia. that will be john brennan. he is the main counterterrorism adviser to president obama. he talks to the president every day about counter terrorism issues and brennan served in the cia. part of the agency for a number of years, so the white house says he has vast experience in

intelligence work. that nomination, again, will come today. >> and we're waiting to hear about that. secretary of state hillary clinton returning to work this morning. first day back on the job, since being sidelined by an illness, concussion, blood clot. she'll bet in meeting first thing this morning and play a big role in welcoming afghan president hamid karzai to washington on friday as well. top stories trending on the web. in india, a barbaric gang rape has caused nationwide outrage, worldwide outrage, five men accused of assaulting a woman and her companion on a bus. a sixth suspect is 17. the companion told a french news agency that the woman was raped and beat nguyen a metal bar. he survived with a broken leg. rescuers are searching for

italian fashion designer missoni. his twin engine aircraft disappeared 30 minutes after takeoff outside venezuela. good news for hockey fans, who haven't had a lot of good news. may be a deal to end the current lockout. this lockout which kept the nhl season on ice for months. they have come to terms on a tentative agreement following a marathon bargaining session over the weekend it must be approved by players and owners. if both sides say yes, players could be back on the ice by next week. >> good news. >> other top cnn trends on the internet, head to cnn.com/trends. bagins, no match for a chainsaw. "texas chainsaw 3-d" took down "the hobbit." chainsaw number one, earning $23

million. "django" second, $20 million, and "the hobbit," to third at three weeks at number one, making a mere $1 7 million. an inspirational figure at the university of texas is quitting amid scandal. extreme weather forces a community water crisis. but this time, it's not the heat. what are you doing? nothing. are you stealing our daughter's school supplies and taking them to work? no, i was just looking for my stapler and my... this thing. i save money by using fedex ground and buy my own supplies. that's a great idea. i'm going to go... we got clients in today. [ male announcer ] save on ground shipping at fedex office. in your car. now count the number of buttons on your tablet.

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traveling today, a lot of the storms that plagued us over the weekend are clearing up just in time. meteorologist karen maginiss joins us with more. >> john and zoraida, across much of the country, temperatures running 5 to 10 degrees above where it should be this year. the jet stream pretty far to the north. guess what? that is going to change. as we go to next week, we'll see a big dive in the jet stream that brings down all of that cold, arctic air. temperatures will be below normal. and in places like chicago that have seen about this much snowfall, the temperatures, 30s and mid 40s, typical high

temperature for this time year, would be around 31 degrees, atlanta comes close to 60 degrees. way above normal for this time year. a developing storm system across the southwestern u.s. will trek in some moisture across the gulf coast region of texas. and that is going to spell about four or five inches of rainfall. flash flooding is certainly likely, but we could see a chance for some thunderstorms, maybe an isolated tornado. but you may remember, a week or so ago, around galveston, they saw a little over four inches of rainfall. that's the entire month's worth of rainfall that they typically see. we could see double that. all right. here we go on tuesday afternoon or evening, along the southern third of the texas region and then by wednesday, we shift it from corpus christi to new orleans with a chance for some heavy rainfall, damaging winds and as i mentioned, a chance of an isolated torn. john. >> thank you so much.

rain coming too, huh? 41 minutes after the hour. up to date on all of the morning's top stories. preliminary hearing for the suspect in the aurora, colorado, movie theater massacre. james holmes accused of killing 12 people, wounding dozens more. prosecutors will lay out their case in week against holmes and a judge will decide if there is enough evidence. the track coach at the university of texas will resign after she admitted to an affair that lasted two years. the former student told them about the affair in october. kearney was left with serious spinal injuries, but she continued to coach her team and eventually learned to walk again. kearney won six national championships with the university of texas. lindsay lohan expected in a new york courtroom. accused of punching a woman at a

new york nightclub. no word if the prosecutor plans a misdemeanor assault case against her. a water shortage in a mountainous area of southwestern china. 20-degree temperatures are responsible for ice forming in the pipes that supply water to chongquing municipality. villagers have been carrying water in from elsewhere and are melting snow now to get water to wash hands and faces. >> awfully pretty, but probably no fun for people living there. >> a big mess. state of kansas is going after a man who donated sperm to a lesbian couple for child support. is he getting support of his own from one of the moms. william morada was found on craigslist. they did not use a doctor to conceive, but under a kansas statute, a sperm donor is considered the father if insemination is not performed through a doctor. morada shouldn't be forced to pay child support according to

one of the moms. >> if gays and lesbians had equal rights in the state of kansas, my name would have been the other name on that birth certificate, so i would be the person the state of kansas was going after for child support. you know, i think it goes back to wanting equality. >> this is awfully complicated, following the baby's birth, the couple broke up. a guardian has been appointed for mia, now 3 years old. carnival season under way in new orleans. the funny 40 fellows started things off with a streetcar ride down st. charles avenue. and joan of arc staged a costume parade. tuesday, february 12th is mardi gras. you know, i have never been? >> i'm sure a lot of people going to bed very early. just kidding. the whole thing doesn't work

well with your hours. the talk of washington. it has nothing to do with politics, we're talking major scandal. one of the nanfl's brightest sts suffered a frightening injury when may say he shouldn't even be on the feel. and tonight's title game, preview coming up. with the spark cash card from capital one, olaf gets great rewards for his small business! pizza! [ garth ] olaf's small business earns 2% cash back on every purchase, every day!

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welcome back. 48 minutes past the hour. soledad o'brien with a look ahead on what's on "starting point." >> hi, guys. president obama bracing for another battle in congress. expected to ounce no a former republican senator chuck hagel as defense secretary nominee. a number of high-profile conservatives unhappy about it. one saying it's an in your face nomination. we'll speak with connie and mary bono mack and chris murphy. plus, help on the way finally for superstorm sandy victims. does it go far enough. we'll talk with mayor cory booker about that and plans for a senate run in new jersey.

and the crimson tide takes on the fighting irish in the bcs title game. we'll talk with espn's mike & mike in the morning about football. one of my favorite topics. >> we start at the 101. >> yes, we do. >> it is consuming the nation and the nation's capitol this morning. washington reeling after the postseason dreams shattered and star quarterback down. robert griffin iii taking a bad fall. likely would have ended the postseason for sure if the redskins hadn't given up their two touchdown lead already to lose to the seahawks. tonight, we'll find out who the bcs championship goes to in college. number two, notre dame, the team with so-called heart, or number one, university of alabama, the team with so-called talent. we are joined by coy.

we'll get to the college game in a second. i got to talk the nfl. so many people were saying what was robert griffin iii doing in that game in the fourth quarter? his knee clearly hurting. went down, no one touched him. now next season very much in question. >> well, what was he doing out there? being a competitor, john. that's what this guy is. being tough, playing through adversity. that's like a badge of honor. the leader of the team. a dynamic young player, going out, giving everything he has for his team, his city. i respect and admire him more for the effort he showed. >> i can understand starting the game. when they were up 14-0, rg3 starts limping, and the next two quarters, completely ineffective, knee clearly hurting him. they might have played better, frankly, without him. >> you hit the nail on the head,

john. i'm with you. one thing that he wanted to play, and that's admiral, but the fact that the coaches left him in, that surprised me. it didn't just limit the team it hurt the team. poor decisions. could see in his mind, he wanted to take off and run, but didn't want to throw it very indecis e indecisive. because of the name, not able to recover the fumble. cost the team a victory. >> is that on rg3 for not speaking up for saying my knee hurts, or on mike shanahan? you need to come out we could do better with dr. james andrews who weeks ago who says he holds his breath every time rg3 goes on the field with that knee? >> i will never blame a guy with the heart of a lion. clearly that knee got worse as the game went on. and dr. andrews, was the one if

anyone, who said i don't think you should play yet. rg3 is not the one to question. i admire him because of his toughness and perseverance. >> let's go to college. zoraida wants to talk about notre dame. number one notre dat crimson ti notre dame. you and zoraida like notre dame. what about alabama? >> they already won how many past championships. what about notre dame? it will be a great game. notre dame leads college football with 11 national titles. who has the second most? >> alabama. >> alabama with ten of them. this is an epic game. i'm really looking forward to like you said, a team with heart power versus a team with horsepower. i'll stick with sfwlor azoraida one. >> yes.

>> time for them to shine. >> no spine. >> i think they are better anyway. >> can notre dame put up points against the alabama defense? >> that's a great point. notter dam look for the stops to be pulled out tonight. it will be fun and exciting. >> coy, you made the prediction earlier. i'm going to hold you to it. >> doesn't matter the scores will be. zoraida, we win. john, you lose. >> you talked about two players to watch. noter dame, mante teo. but keep an eye on golson. sophomore quarterback and electrifying. he makes things happen. for alabama, i love their running back. eddie lacey, he's a beast and because of their offensive line, a bunch of real grown men up there in the trenches for alabama.

>> i had go with 13-10 alabama. >> you would. but, hey, john, at least zoraida on twitter said i'm handsome and you're not. so -- >> i think i called you so so. >> it's better than it could be. the very handsome coy wire, thank you for being with us. >> thank you. >> if you have eyes, you see it. 54 minutes past the hour. you all need is to unlock your brain power, some insects and a kid called the spiker box. dr. sanjay gupta has this preview of "the next list." >> i'm dr. sanjay gupta. this is a spiker box, one of these and a cockroach could make you an expert on the brain. >> we're trying to make the tools simple enough to be used. things people are familiar with. cell phones or a laptop and then our equipment has one button on it, turn it on.

>> we have been enlightened by the neuroscience. better understanding of muscles and brains. >> almost up to 100 high schools. i'm greedy. we want it across all the country. not just one kid. we want every kid. >> neuroscientist, greg gauge this sunday on "the next list." >> who knew it could be so much fun making neuroscience accessible, sunday, 2:00 p.m. on cnn. >> nothing more fun than neuroscience. coming up on "starting point" cars that drive themselves two major automakers kicking the effort to high gear. "early start" back after this break. ♪

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time. that is all for "early start." i'm